Who is Hissene Habre?

First came to the world's attention in 1974 when his FAN rebels captured three European hostages to ransom for money and arms

Seized power in 1982 allegedly with the help of the CIA and ousted by current President Idriss Deby in 1990

Accused of systematically persecuting groups he distrusted

A former swimming pool was used as an underground prison where survivors say they were subjected to electric shocks, near-asphyxia and "supplice des baguettes", when their heads were squeezed between sticks

An underground prison, known as the "Piscine" because it was a converted swimming pool was one of the DDS's most notorious detention centres in the capital, N'Djamena, while Amnesty reports that some political prisoners were held at the presidential palace.

Survivors said the most common forms of torture were electric shocks, near-asphyxia, cigarette burns and having gas squirted into their eyes.

Sometimes, the torturers would place the exhaust pipe of a vehicle in their victim's mouth, then start the engine, Amnesty says.

Some detainees were placed in a room with decomposing bodies, other suspended by their hands or feet, others bound hand and foot.

One man said he thought his brain was going to explode when he was subjected to "supplice des baguettes" (torture by sticks), when the victim's head is put between sticks joined by rope which are then twisted.

Others were left to die from hunger in the "diete noire" (starvation diet).

US-based rights group Human Rights Watch says that members of any ethnic group seen as being opposed to Mr Habre were targeted: The Sara in 1984, the Hadjerai in 1987 and Chadian Arabs and the Zaghawa in 1989-90.

Mr Habre was eventually deposed by current President Idriss Deby, an ethnic Zaghawa, who has been accused of favouring members of his own community.

After being ousted, Mr Habre fled to exile in Senegal, where he has kept a low profile.

However, he became involved with the local Tijaniyya Islamic sect, married and four of his children were born there.

"I can say that my children don't know Chad. Their country is Senegal," Mr Habre's wife, Fatime Raymonde, once told a local newspaper.

Legal wrangles

His alleged victims, backed by Human Rights Watch, have tried to bring him to justice ever since but have repeatedly been thwarted.

First, a Senegalese court refused to put him on trial, saying it did not have jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Chad.

Hissene Habre is usually guarded by two Senegalese security agents

His victims then turned to Belgium and, after a four-year investigation a judge issued a warrant for his arrest in 2005 as the country's universal law allows its courts to prosecute human rights offences committed anywhere in the world.

The Senegalese authorities responding by putting Mr Habre under house arrest, but there have since been years of wrangling about what do with him.

The government of former President Abdoulaye Wade changed its position on whether to try him several times, its key concern being about the funding of such a trial.

Four extradition requests from Belgium have been denied and the African Union urged Senegal to prosecute Mr Habre "on behalf of Africa".

Mr Wade agreed to do so and by 2008 the country's constitution was amended to allow the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Senegal even if they were committed outside the country.

But in 2011, Senegal unexpectedly announced that it would repatriate Mr Habre to Chad, where he had been sentenced to death in absentia for planning to overthrow the government.

The plan was stopped following a plea from the UN, which feared he could be tortured on his return.

Mr Habre still lives in the quiet Ouakam suburb of the Senegalese capital, Dakar - guarded by two security agents - and is seen occasionally at the local mosque for Friday prayers.

But unlike Chile's late dictator Augusto Pinochet, who died before ever being brought to trial, Mr Habre may yet face his alleged victims in court.

The International Court of Justice at The Hague has ordered Senegal to either put him on trial "without delay" or extradite him to Belgium.

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